“Play Well Beyond Their Years”: Udonis Haslem Predicts Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder to Make the NBA Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been the class of the Western Conference all year. Their 27-5 record is five games ahead of the second-place Memphis Grizzlies, and they’ve been one of the hottest teams in the league even as they still await the return of Chet Holmgren, who’s been out since fracturing his pelvis way back on November 10th. Some observers still think the Thunder, who are one of the youngest teams in the league, aren’t ready to become championship contenders yet, but Udonis Haslem isn’t one of them.

On the episode of his The OGs podcast, the longtime Miami Heat vet explained why he thinks OKC is going to make the Finals. The Thunder are a loose group, and they’ve become known for their post-game, full-team interviews, but Haslem refuted guest Carlos Arroyo’s criticism that they “don’t seem serious about the game.”

“The strength is in the connection. They’re a connected group of guys. You can tell that they’re very connected. It seems like they’re joking, but I look past the joking around all the time and see the connection between the guys.”

Haslem prides himself on being an OG, but even he can’t help but like what the fun-loving Thunder are doing on both ends of the court.

“Even though they’re young, they play well beyond their years. You very rarely see a young team that shares the basketball the right way, they play the right way offensively, and they play [the right] way defensively. They’re top-10 in the league offensively and defensively.”

The addition of Isaiah Hartenstein this offseason is yet another reason why Haslem likes the Thunder’s playoff chances, as is the presence of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who even opponent Anthony Edwards said last night should be the MVP frontrunner after Shai dropped 40 points on Edwards’ Timberwolves in a 113-105 OKC win.

OKC may be young, but Haslem thinks they can make a Finals run

This isn’t the first time Haslem has voiced his support for the Thunder, as he even picked them to be the best team in the West in the preseason in light of their offseason trade for Alex Caruso. Haslem likened the Caruso trade to the deal that brought Jrue Holliday to the Boston Celtics, and he praised Caruso’s perimeter shooting and his ability to single-handedly disrupt any offense.

So far, he’s been proven mostly right, as although Caruso hasn’t found his shooting stroke yet, he has been a crucial asset for the number-one team in the league in defensive rating.

According to FanDuel, OKC currently has by far the best odds to come out of the West at +165. The next closest team is the defending Western Conference champ Dallas Mavericks at +600, while Haslem’s co-host Mike Miller’s pick, the Memphis Grizzlies, are +1000. We’ll see if Haslem’s prediction comes true, but right now it’s difficult to find a flaw with OKC’s game.